{Christmas Came Early for Me}

So I decided to help Mr. Smarty out this Christmas, as I suspect many wives do, by showing him exactly what I wanted. This year, I found it on craigslist. SHOCKER, I know. I asked the Mister if I could make the owner of a really cute deacons bench an offer he could refuse but I would pray he wouldn't. I said I would just offer the guy $10. Being Christmas and all, Mr. Smarty threw caution to the wind and told me if I REALLY HAD TO HAVE this bench, then I should make him a real offer. So, $20 it was. Long story short, the beauty of a bench is now here:



And since I'm posting and adding pictures, I'll give you a few glimpses of what Christmas looks like in our home.





This nativity set was my birthday present from my parents this year...yes, my birthday was in May, but it just made me look forward all the more to pulling out all my Christmas decorations a few weeks ago. And the table runner was a gift from my in-laws from their last trip to Jordan earlier this year.



This banner is the first thing I made for our first apartment years ago. Once we moved into our house, it got tucked away in a closet. I just found it recently and thought it was perfect for the space during Christmas. The sticks in the urn came from a Live Oak in our backyard. Can't beat FREE!



And here's my contribution for TipJunkie's Christmas Tree Tip Contest: this table tree solves two problems at once. First, the price of a 6 or 7 foot tree is much more affordable than a 12 foot tree. And second, Baby can't knock over, pull ornaments off of or eat a tree 4 feet off the ground. The table also make a great spot for hiding our bin of books...